owns and operates three and
Free People . The first store opened in
1970 in
Philadelphia ,
Pennsylvania , focusing on "funky" fashion and household products. Today, the Urban Outfitters line has expanded from
Vintage ,
Bohemian ,
Retro ,
Ironically Humorous ,
Kitschy , and oddly designed apparel and furniture to include many luxury brands such as
Lacoste ,
Evisu ,
Diesel ,
True Religion and
Seven For All Mankind . Currently headquartered in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Urban operates more than 140 shops in the
United States ,
Canada ,
Ireland ,
Denmark ,
Sweden , and the
United Kingdom .
The president of Urban Outfitters,
Richard Hayne , became
Controversial in early
2004 when the company
Advertised t-shirts bearing the slogan "
Voting is for Old People." During the media hubbub that followed,
Journalists revealed that Hayne had contributed over $10,000 to
Republican Senator
Rick Santorum .
At one time, the store sold a
Magnet set depicting a
Crucified Jesus Christ that one could dress up and put various phrases on. This item was later pulled after a
Public backlash. However, the chain has not backed down from selling
T-shirts of all stripes that are generally aimed at mocking various social
Stereotypes and
Prejudices , not by contradicting them, but by humorously playing them up. Among notable examples are their shirt with the phrase "Everyone Loves a
Jewish Girl" surrounded by
Money signs and their shirt with the phrase "
Jesus is My
Homeboy ". Both have been taken up in
Popular Culture by the groups they were "defaming" and become wildly popular, so much so that they have attained
Cultural Icon status among
American Teenagers .
Recently, the retailer has come over fire [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/16092483.htm] for offering sparkly handgun-shaped Christmas ornaments in its hometown of Philadelphia - a city that had seen over 1,700 shootings and over 300 gun-related murders for the year [http://inquirer.philly.com/graphics/murders_map] , through the end of November, 2006. [http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/16119802.htm]
